Martha Stewart Went To Jail For Much Less
2016-02-10 19:18:34 UTC
MANCHESTER, N.H. Both Hillary and Bill Clinton knew she would
lose here but not by this much.
Now, after a drubbing so serious as to call into question every
aspect of her campaign from her data operation to her message,
the wounded front-runner and her allies are actively preparing
to retool their campaign, according to Clinton allies.
Staffing and strategy will be reassessed. The message, which so
spectacularly failed in New Hampshire where she was trailing by
21 points when she appeared before her supporters to concede to
Sanders, is also going to be reworked with race at the center
of it.
Clinton is set to campaign with the mothers of Trayvon Martin
and Eric Garner, unarmed African-Americans who died in incidents
involving law enforcement officers and a neighborhood watch
representative, respectively. And the campaign, sources said, is
expected to push a new focus on systematic racism, criminal
justice reform, voting rights and gun violence that will
mitigate concerns about her lack of an inspirational message.
The gun message went silent in New Hampshire, remarked one
ally close to the campaign. Guns will come back in a strong
way. She is expected to highlight the problem of gun violence
as the leading cause of death among African American men as she
campaigns in South Carolina on Friday.
In her concession speech, which she gave about 30 minutes after
the polls closed with Chelsea and Bill Clinton standing behind
her, Clinton began to preview that new message framing her
remarks around a call for human rights and an end to
discrimination.
Where people are held back by injustice anywhere in America,
that demands action, she said. We also have to break through
the barriers of bigotry. She added that immigrant families
shouldnt have to lie awake at night listening for a knock at
the door.
Twice, she referenced her visit to Flint, Michigan, this week, a
largely African-American city in crisis because of lead-
contaminated water that has affected at least 8,000 children
under the age of 6. It isnt right that the kids I met in Flint
on Sunday night were poisoned because their governor wanted to
save money, she told the New Hampshire crowd.
The race issue was also front and center in the memo released by
campaign manager Robby Mook before the polls closed, just
minutes before the race was called for Sanders.
It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for a Democrat to
win the nomination without strong levels of support among
African American and Hispanic voters, Mook said in the three-
page memo. And a Democrat who is unable to inspire strong
levels of support in minority communities will have no credible
path to winning the presidency in the general election.
Mook who has been laser-focused on the first four voting
states since the campaigns launch in April on a morning
conference call with allies downplayed the significance of the
early states. Instead, he stressed that 56 percent of delegates
will be selected in March, compared to just 4 percent of
delegates up for grabs in the first four voting states,
according to participants on the call.
Other allies close to the campaign tried to rationalize the loss
by insisting that New Hampshire was always going to be Sanders
country that if it weren't for the emotional connection that
both Bill and Hillary Clinton have to the first-in-the-nation
primary that twice has bailed out their presidential hopes, in
1992 for Bill and in 2008 for Hillary they would have been
smarter skipping it all together.
But the Clinton campaign chose to invest heavily here. They had
more than 50 staffers on the ground for months, 11 field offices
and eight get out the vote centers. The campaign said more
than 10,000 volunteers took part in the campaign.
And as the days grew closer to the voting, with Clinton still
trailing Sanders by large margins in the polls, friends tried to
comfort themselves and the candidate by telling her she ran the
best campaign she could have.
I feel like we did not leave anything undone or anything on the
table, said Terry Shumaker, a close campaign ally who co-
chaired both of Bill Clintons presidential campaigns in the
state.
In recent days, friends tried to buck up the candidate, telling
her that if Sanders won big it would be because he tapped into
anger and discontent in the electorate that she couldnt have
prevented. One ally recalled telling her that the elevation
Sanders and Donald Trump was beyond her control, and that she
nodded in response.
I didnt want her second-guessing herself, the ally said.
But her loss was particularly devastating among young people,
including young women, a demographic she once hoped to win over.
And Democrats criticized the Clinton campaign's response to
Sanders' surge.
Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright are not going to appeal
to millennial women, said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff,
referring to two Clinton surrogates who appeared to try and
shame young women who are supporting Sanders into backing
Clinton while campaigning in New Hampshire. Bill Clinton lacing
into Bernie Sanders isnt going to work, either. People want
inspiration and Bernie Sanders makes the case that his campaign
is about big ideas. If you want to talk to young voters,
political revolution up against incremental change is a tough
case to make.
Clinton acknowledged the problem in her concession speech. I
know I have some work to do, particularly with young people,
she said. Even if they are not supporting me now, Im
supporting them.
Another missed opportunity for her campaign here: she failed to
create any memorable moments on the ground, like the scene in a
Portsmouth coffee shop eight years ago when Clinton finally let
her guard down and grew emotional and teary-eyed talking about
how she keeps going.
But Miringoff said the dynamics will change out of New
Hampshire. The question becomes, can Sanders modify the basis
of his appeal in a state like South Carolina, where about 60
percent of Democratic voters are African American?" he said.
There is also some hope in Clinton circles that Sanders is
finally starting to get some of the vetting he needs from voters
and the press. Bill Clinton, who over the weekend ramped up his
attacks on Sanders, has in recent days told people that he feels
those attacks on Sanders -- and how he is also a regular
politician playing the game like everyone else -- are starting
to sink in. Its too late to make a difference in New Hampshire,
Clinton has told confidants, but its about whats next.
The former President also said in private conversations that he
thinks Sanders weakness on foreign policy is also starting to
gain traction -- that most voters in New Hampshire know that
North Korea has one dictator, not multiple, as he stated in last
Thursdays debate.
But for Clinton, an over-arching question remains.
People want inspiration, Miringoff added, and theyre not
getting that from Hillary Clinton.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/hillary-clinton-new-
hampshire-african-americans-219039
People want honesty, and they're not getting that from Hillary
Clinton.
lose here but not by this much.
Now, after a drubbing so serious as to call into question every
aspect of her campaign from her data operation to her message,
the wounded front-runner and her allies are actively preparing
to retool their campaign, according to Clinton allies.
Staffing and strategy will be reassessed. The message, which so
spectacularly failed in New Hampshire where she was trailing by
21 points when she appeared before her supporters to concede to
Sanders, is also going to be reworked with race at the center
of it.
Clinton is set to campaign with the mothers of Trayvon Martin
and Eric Garner, unarmed African-Americans who died in incidents
involving law enforcement officers and a neighborhood watch
representative, respectively. And the campaign, sources said, is
expected to push a new focus on systematic racism, criminal
justice reform, voting rights and gun violence that will
mitigate concerns about her lack of an inspirational message.
The gun message went silent in New Hampshire, remarked one
ally close to the campaign. Guns will come back in a strong
way. She is expected to highlight the problem of gun violence
as the leading cause of death among African American men as she
campaigns in South Carolina on Friday.
In her concession speech, which she gave about 30 minutes after
the polls closed with Chelsea and Bill Clinton standing behind
her, Clinton began to preview that new message framing her
remarks around a call for human rights and an end to
discrimination.
Where people are held back by injustice anywhere in America,
that demands action, she said. We also have to break through
the barriers of bigotry. She added that immigrant families
shouldnt have to lie awake at night listening for a knock at
the door.
Twice, she referenced her visit to Flint, Michigan, this week, a
largely African-American city in crisis because of lead-
contaminated water that has affected at least 8,000 children
under the age of 6. It isnt right that the kids I met in Flint
on Sunday night were poisoned because their governor wanted to
save money, she told the New Hampshire crowd.
The race issue was also front and center in the memo released by
campaign manager Robby Mook before the polls closed, just
minutes before the race was called for Sanders.
It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for a Democrat to
win the nomination without strong levels of support among
African American and Hispanic voters, Mook said in the three-
page memo. And a Democrat who is unable to inspire strong
levels of support in minority communities will have no credible
path to winning the presidency in the general election.
Mook who has been laser-focused on the first four voting
states since the campaigns launch in April on a morning
conference call with allies downplayed the significance of the
early states. Instead, he stressed that 56 percent of delegates
will be selected in March, compared to just 4 percent of
delegates up for grabs in the first four voting states,
according to participants on the call.
Other allies close to the campaign tried to rationalize the loss
by insisting that New Hampshire was always going to be Sanders
country that if it weren't for the emotional connection that
both Bill and Hillary Clinton have to the first-in-the-nation
primary that twice has bailed out their presidential hopes, in
1992 for Bill and in 2008 for Hillary they would have been
smarter skipping it all together.
But the Clinton campaign chose to invest heavily here. They had
more than 50 staffers on the ground for months, 11 field offices
and eight get out the vote centers. The campaign said more
than 10,000 volunteers took part in the campaign.
And as the days grew closer to the voting, with Clinton still
trailing Sanders by large margins in the polls, friends tried to
comfort themselves and the candidate by telling her she ran the
best campaign she could have.
I feel like we did not leave anything undone or anything on the
table, said Terry Shumaker, a close campaign ally who co-
chaired both of Bill Clintons presidential campaigns in the
state.
In recent days, friends tried to buck up the candidate, telling
her that if Sanders won big it would be because he tapped into
anger and discontent in the electorate that she couldnt have
prevented. One ally recalled telling her that the elevation
Sanders and Donald Trump was beyond her control, and that she
nodded in response.
I didnt want her second-guessing herself, the ally said.
But her loss was particularly devastating among young people,
including young women, a demographic she once hoped to win over.
And Democrats criticized the Clinton campaign's response to
Sanders' surge.
Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright are not going to appeal
to millennial women, said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff,
referring to two Clinton surrogates who appeared to try and
shame young women who are supporting Sanders into backing
Clinton while campaigning in New Hampshire. Bill Clinton lacing
into Bernie Sanders isnt going to work, either. People want
inspiration and Bernie Sanders makes the case that his campaign
is about big ideas. If you want to talk to young voters,
political revolution up against incremental change is a tough
case to make.
Clinton acknowledged the problem in her concession speech. I
know I have some work to do, particularly with young people,
she said. Even if they are not supporting me now, Im
supporting them.
Another missed opportunity for her campaign here: she failed to
create any memorable moments on the ground, like the scene in a
Portsmouth coffee shop eight years ago when Clinton finally let
her guard down and grew emotional and teary-eyed talking about
how she keeps going.
But Miringoff said the dynamics will change out of New
Hampshire. The question becomes, can Sanders modify the basis
of his appeal in a state like South Carolina, where about 60
percent of Democratic voters are African American?" he said.
There is also some hope in Clinton circles that Sanders is
finally starting to get some of the vetting he needs from voters
and the press. Bill Clinton, who over the weekend ramped up his
attacks on Sanders, has in recent days told people that he feels
those attacks on Sanders -- and how he is also a regular
politician playing the game like everyone else -- are starting
to sink in. Its too late to make a difference in New Hampshire,
Clinton has told confidants, but its about whats next.
The former President also said in private conversations that he
thinks Sanders weakness on foreign policy is also starting to
gain traction -- that most voters in New Hampshire know that
North Korea has one dictator, not multiple, as he stated in last
Thursdays debate.
But for Clinton, an over-arching question remains.
People want inspiration, Miringoff added, and theyre not
getting that from Hillary Clinton.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/hillary-clinton-new-
hampshire-african-americans-219039
People want honesty, and they're not getting that from Hillary
Clinton.